My Thoughtful Spot

saboteur

Our older kitty, Athalia, is a very squeezy lap kitty. Whenever possible, she'll wiggle her way onto your lap, even if you've got books there and you're trying to study or eat or whatever. She prefers Daniel's lap to mine, but has also been known to crawl into a friend's lap if they visit.

This weekend Daniel is working from home on a brief that needs to be filed this week. So he sets up his laptop in the living room and works there. Nice and comfy. Indiana Jones marathon on in the background. Athalia tries to wiggle up there, naturally. No, Athalia. This is serious. Go away.

She does for a bit. Then re-analyzes the situation and finds another way to be cute and still get her way without ticking anyone off. And she still gets to sunbathe. Bonus.

update

Athalia is totally fine. Ever since she got home the other day, she has been happy, and purring, and hungry. No snot, either. I'm not sure if it's the antibiotics or the wash out of her sinus she had when she was asleep, but to look at her you'd think she's totally healthy.

No results on the cultures yet either. For people cultures, if there is no growth in 5 days, that's it. Nothing's going to grow if it hasn't by then. Well, unless it's yeast. Then it's 30 days. But she's just checking for bacteria. I wonder if it's the same way with kitties?

home again

The abdominal ultrasound was negative for a mass, which is what we were all worried about. A little thickened stomach lining and gallbladder, but that could just be from chronic irritation. Today we'll start a gastric motility agent called metaclopramide. I use it all the time for my patients with nausea and vomiting.

Next is the teeth. All she has left now are the two canines on the bottom and two upper molars. Nearly toothless older kitty. That's okay. They don't chew anyway. However, on the dental x-rays, they found a mass in the sinus on the left. That's the snotty side. She said it could be chronic inflammation, infection, or a tumor. She flushed out her sinus and got a bunch of junk out. Here's the plan from here on out:

1. Wait for the culture and sensitivities to come back. That will tell us if there is an active infection, which organism it is, and which antibiotics it is sensitive to so we can tailor the anitbiotic therapy.
2. If that is negative, she'll send a specimen for yeast culture. These take longer, but masses can be caused by fungal infections. Treat if positive.
3. If all that is negative and her symptoms have not resolved, she'll need an MRI of her face. Which means more anesthesia because even some *humans* can't stay still long enough for an MRI.

Needless to say, both me and my wallet hope this first round of antibiotics does the trick, especially after the bill we've accumulated in the last two days...

my kitty is at the vet

Yesterday I took the kitties in for a long-overdue check up. Elizabeth was fine, as we all know. Got her vaccine for indoor kitties to help prevent sarcoma or something like that. Poor Athalia needed more work done. She's been a very snotty nosed kitty for about 6-8 months or so. It got a bit worse with the smoke from all the fires. So they also swabbed her nose.

Another interesting fact is that she never got her adult teeth in. She's had several of the old kitten teeth extracted because they were rotten or loose, but the vet told me that she needed to take a better look at them under ansesthesia. And, because tooth sockets are very close to sinuses, an underlying infection in her teeth may be causing sinusitis. So while she was asleep, they'd get dental x-rays.

Then there's the vomiting. She does the binge-purge thing a lot of cats do, and we work around it by feeding her a teaspoon full of food every 20 minutes. But occassionally, maybe once a month, she'll get a whole meal and be fine. Then at the next meal, after her first serving, she vomit a very large amount of undigested, foul-smelling food. *That's* what the vet was worried about. To check it out, she's getting an abdominal ultrasound too.

I get to pick her up soon. I hope she's ok. Poor thing.

kitty quiz

So I'm still trying to keep myself awake because I'm on call. I'm just not as on-my-toes if I've taken a nap when my body knows I should be sleeping. One of the sites I visited had a kitty quiz... what a neat idea!

Athalia's answers:

1. Do you walk with your tail up or down? down. It's just more ladylike that way.
2. Do you prefer sleeping or playing? Where does being squeezy fit in? I like that the best.
3. Do you like your own cat bed or your human's? The humans' bed is the best.
4. Do you prefer mousies or feather toys? Mousies and I go waaaay back. I'm not allowed to have them very much because I eat the fur and then vomit, but I remember them well.
5. Do you prefer tuna or chicken? I think they're both equal. I'll hiss at anyone who comes near me when I'm eating either.
6. Like crunchy food or wet food? Considering that I don't have many teeth left, I'll stick with the wet varitey.
7. Prefer moist treats or catnip? Yes, please. But catnip makes me a "mean drunk" and He scolds me for being mean to my sister.
8. Do you have your own cat bed? Yes, but I never use it.
9. Do you still have clawed paws? Of course! How else am I going to wake Them up?
10. What is your favorite activity to annoy your human? Scratching the furniture.
11. Do you like dogs? I've never come face to face with a dog, but I've smelled one on His hands. I'm sure I wouldn't like it.
12. What's your favorite way to wake your human? I have a few ways that I use depending on my mood. A) The door to the closet is near His side of the bed. I like to go over and push my paw against it like I were opening it. Of course I know it won't open, but it will rattle. 2) Scratch the box spring. They hate that. That one runs the risk of getting squirted with the water gun, so I only use that one when I'm really hungry. D) I love to stand on His chest and get my face really close to His and purr as loud as possible. Then I take a big breath in a sneeze my boogers all over his face. Then he has to get up for a kleenex! Success!
13. Do you like to chase the pointer on the computer screen? I have no interest in such things.
14. How did you get your name? He has always liked my name from the Old Testament. However, my namesake was an evil queen who killed her children and grandchildren in order to remain queen. That's not the kind of person you name your children after, ya know?
15. What's your favorite thing to break? I used to break Christmas ornaments, but they just don't interest me anymore. I have no time for such petty activities.
16. What's the funniest thing you've done? I can't really think of one thing, but when people pet my back, I have an elevator butt.

Elizabeth's answers:

1. Do you walk with your tail up or down? up!
2. Do you prefer sleeping or playing? both are fun, but i really like running around and rubbing my face on stuff
3. Do you like your own cat bed or your human's? i let the humans sleep on my bed. let's keep things straight here.
4. Do you prefer mousies or feather toys? feather.
5. Do you prefer tuna or chicken? neither. i like beef. real food for real kitties.
6. Like crunchy food or wet food? crunchy. in fact, if The Boy or The Girl try to give me wet food in the morning i won't eat it. i can only eat wet food at night and even then sometimes i don't want it.
7. Prefer moist treats or catnip? i love catnip. even if Athalia smacks me around a bit. i'm so happy it doesn't really matter.
8. Do you have your own cat bed? yes. it's a big iron bed with pillows on it.
9. Do you still have clawed paws? yes, and i love spending time sharpening them on the scratching post. i tried to teach Athalia how to use it, but she prefers the furniture and the carpet.
10. What is your favorite activity to annoy your human? i get on the furniture i'm not supposed to when they're not looking. like the table or the coffee table. sometimes i get caught, though.
11. Do you like dogs? what's a dog?
12. What's your favorite way to wake your human? the bedroom has vertical blinds in them. if i stand on my back feet, i can reach them with my paw. i smack them and make them rattle and look over to the bed to see if i've had an effect. if no effect, i do it again.
13. Do you like to chase the pointer on the computer screen? the computer is really the only place where Athalia allows me to be on the lap of The Boy or The Girl. So if i'm up there, i'm more concerned with getting petted and purring than anything happening on the screen.
14. How did you get your name? i was found in a flower bed of St. Elizabeth's Hospital. also, my white paws look like gloves and the white fur looks like a ruff, much like Queen Elizabeth I would have worn. at least that is what The Girl says.
15. What's your favorite thing to break? i'm a good girl. i don't break things.
16. What's the funniest thing you've done? sometimes i like to rub my face on the shower door. then i get carried away and go into the tub. only when the floor is dry, of course. The Girl thinks that's pretty funny.

sea otter kitty

I found this really cool feature on Typepad be thought I'd try it out. It enables me to send a message from my phone and it will become a new post! How cool is that if it works? I took this picture of Elizabeth last night. She comes out around the same time every night and tries to look super cute so we'll feed her earlier. What she doesn't realize is that it is *so* cute! We love her sea otter pose and postpone feeding her so we can enjoy it longer. :-) She's such a good kitty... She just can't be annoying!

saturday six

Episode 139

1. Do you send Christmas cards? If so, do you write any notes inside the Chirstmas card or include a "newsletter" about your family, or do you just basically sign your name?
Every year, I intend to send Christmas cards. In the course of my training, there have been years where it just doesn't happen. But it usually does. I also intend to write a few lines in the card that are relevant to the person I'm sending it to, like "Had a great time celebrating your birthday with you this summer" or something like that. But usually by the end, I'm really pressed for time and have to just sign my name.

2. Are you more likely to shop in a store that has returned the phrase "Merry Christmas" to its signage?
Yes, absolutely. More than 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas in one way or another. It's smart marketing. And they're marketing me. If they don't, I won't boycott them, but if I have a choice, I'll go to the place that advertises with Merry Christmas.

3. Do you buy your pets Christmas presents?
Ummm... yeah. Well, they are a part of the family. Even if they usually deserve coal for scratching the box spring or puking on the carpet, they still get presents. This year I even found the cutest stockings for them at the craft store. The right side up one is for Athalia (seen in the photo) because she's a little more uptight about things. The upside down one is for Elizabeth -- it imitates her look-how-cute-I-am-don't-you-want-to-give-me-dinner pose we see every night. Yes, I realize that getting stockings for cats is stupid. They don't care one way or another as long as they get the treats and cat nip. So the stockings are really for me. And I'm okay with that. After all I only have two cats; any more than two and you get to be like the Crazy Cat Lady from the Simpsons who just yells nonsense and throws cats a people...

4. Take the quiz: Are You More Cat or Dog?

You Are: 90% Dog, 10% Cat

You're a dog at heart - and it's not a bad thing at all! You love unconditionally, and you're extremely loyal. And while you may act silly at times, you're really quite smart - and a good learner!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

5. Which have you owned more of in your life, cats or dogs?
When we were little, we really didn't have such good luck with the cats. We had this one really cute kitten and we let her outside to play. Someone stole her because she was so cute. Another one was outside playing in the dense tuley fog that comes during the winter of my home town and got hit by a car. So, we've had a lot more cats. In my adult life I have only had cats because I have never had a fenced in backyard or had the time to give a dog the attention s/he needs. Cats you can leave at home all day and they pretty much don't care. But you need to be able to spend more time with a dog and commit to playing with it. And people wonder why we don't have kids yet. :-P

6. If you had to come back as one or the other, and assuming you'd belong to an owner who would treat you well, would you rather be a cat or a dog?
I'm too social to be a cat. Plus, I think I'd get bored with sleeping 22 hours out of every 24. I would want someone to play with me and take me for walks and give me a Coach doggie collar and a Burberry sweater. Maybe a trip to the doggie day spa and then to the park for some socializing with the other dogs. They don't have those accessories and acitivites for cats.

bad kitty

When one of us isn't in the house at night, one or both of the kitties acts really badly. Either I'm on call or Daniel is away for work, but they know and take full advantage of the fact that one "parent" is gone. They each have their own ways of waking us up when they want something, which usually happens around 6am if we haven't gotten up to feed them. (Thank that un-godly hour to my crazy work schedule.) Elizabeth stands on her hind feet so she can reach the vertical blinds with her front paws and rattles them. Athalia will either sneeze a big goober on Daniel's face or scratch the door to the closet which will rattle. Since Daniel wasn't there, she chose the latter. Except that it wasn't at 6am. It was at 1:30am. Huh? Are you kidding me? No, I am not going to feed you now, so cut it out!

sheesh

kitty prints

Since last weekend, Daniel has been busy preparing our home for Easter. We're having a bunch of friends over this Sunday for Easter dinner. We don't usually have a big crowd for this particular holiday, but this year it's going to be eight! First stop -- Pottery Barn; our standard home decorating place. They had everything we needed once again; little egg salad/dessert plates, bunny napkin rings, bunny salt and pepper shakers, egg holders (to match the plates, of course), and beautiful Spring napkins.

Our little Athalia (the white one) is our eldest kitty, and she has had digestive problems since she was born. I've diganosed her with delayed gastric emptying. (One evening before I went to bed, I gave her a fish-shaped treat. The next morning, I fed her and she puked. The fish-shaped treat was in the vomit, undigested!) We've got her on a raw food diet, which has done wonders for her problems. But she will still occasionally vomit, especially if she's super hungry and eats too fast.

My point in going over that gross story is that we have to have the carpets cleaned about 2-3 times a year. So the carpets were cleaned yesterday. It's great because all the stains are gone and all the pile on the carpet is up. Which means that all day, the kitties have been walking around making little kitty paw prints in the carpet. Hundreds of one inch circles of depressed carpet.

Totally cute. :-)

me and the kitties

On Thursday morning, Daniel left for the east coast. He's been doing a flurry of depositions in this particular case that sends him back east every 3-4 weeks. He loves it, well except for the flying part. But once he gets there he has fun. Staying in hotels, eating good food, and catching up with friends that he's made over the years. Plus, all those frequent flier miles will possibly upgrade us to a first class ticket on our next vacation!

So it's been just me and the kitties at home. Well, when I am home. Athalia (the white one) loves it when I'm post-call. I grab my pillow and my unicorn blanket (the one that Grandma gave me one year for Christmas all those years ago) and spread out on the couch. Athalia tucks herself into the crook behind my knees and is so happy. She trained Elizabeth when she was just a kitten not to sit on us -- ever. So Elizabeth stays in her usual spot on our bed. I just love those little purring balls of fur, even if they fight in the middle of the night! :-)